


conquer your fears (and you'll conquer the world)

by Lire_Casander



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Family Feels, Fluff, Future Fic, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-18
Updated: 2019-04-18
Packaged: 2020-01-16 00:51:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18510565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lire_Casander/pseuds/Lire_Casander
Summary: the test seemed to be glaring at her when she bent over to check on it for the umpteenth time in as many days. the result hadn’t changed from the past eleven glances she’d dared its way, and she’d started to fear it wouldn’t budge. there was no mistake about it.





	conquer your fears (and you'll conquer the world)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheballetslipperandTheblackhoodie21](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheballetslipperandTheblackhoodie21/gifts).



> Slight AU where Noah is definitely not the fourth alien, although an alien himself. I just can’t bear the thought of one of my faves being all rotten inside. Heavy on the dialogue, which I am not good at. First time writing Echo, so please be gentle. 
> 
> Unbeta'ed, and English is not my first language. Please point out any mistakes you see.
> 
> For [theballetslippertheblackhoodie](http://theballetslippertheblackhoodie.tumblr.com), who requested _When Liz Ortecho-Evans finds out she's pregnant, she turns to an unlikely support system: her brother and sister in law, but can she find the strength to tell her husband?_ I hope I did your prompt justice and you like this!

The test seemed to be glaring at her when she bent over to check on it for the umpteenth time in as many days. The result hadn’t changed from the past eleven glances she’d dared its way, and she’d started to fear it wouldn’t budge. There was no mistake about it.

She was pregnant.

She marveled on how unpredictable life was – she knew exactly how she’d gotten into this predicament, and yet she had been sure there was no chance of them being able to _conceive_ , what with all the differences between human and alien physiognomy. Sure, Isobel and Noah had tried – and succeeded – and now they had two beautiful twin boys. But both of them were aliens, and they were likely _made_ to fit; Liz knew Max and herself were just too unalike to even think about it.

So she went a bit slippery on her birth control, and Max wasn’t thinking clearly the one or thirteen nights he came home late from his shift at the precinct, exhausted from everything and seeking solace in her skin. And now she had a problem in her hands.

_Well, not a problem_ , she thought to herself, hand over her stomach. _Just something unexpected, different. Something that needs research._

And whenever she needed help with her investigations, she knew who to turn to. Tucking the test safely into her purse, she slid into her sneakers and grabbed the keys to Max’s car. Hers was at Sanders’ getting fixed up, and she decided to use it as excuse to visit her favorite mechanic brother-in-law, although she knew he would see right through her the moment she began talking.

When she reached the junkyard, Michael was already tinkering with some engine, shirt stained in grease and curls wild around his head as he worked his way through the machine. She pulled up nearby and jumped outside the car, suddenly self-conscious and insecure.

“Hey, Mickey,” she greeted softly, approaching him from his left. He stopped what he was doing to face her, a wide grin splitting his face.

“Hey yourself,” he said back, wiping his hands on a cloth and leaning in to kiss her cheek. “Your beauty isn’t ready yet. I would have called you.”

“I know,” she replied, her feeble excuse of a cover blowing. “I’m not here for that.”

Michael eyed her as she fidgeted with her purse, until she took out the test and showed it to him. “I came here for this.”

“What is that?” he asked stupidly, and Liz would have smacked his head hadn’t she been nervous enough not to notice how his cheeks paled. “Please tell me it’s not what I think it is.”

“If you’re thinking about a pregnancy test, then I can’t tell you it isn’t that. And I can’t tell you it isn’t positive.”

Michael took a step back. “How’s that even possible?” he asked in a thread of voice. “I mean, congratulations are in order but,” he trailed off.

“I have already thought about it, and I wouldn’t have believed it’d be possible,” she assured him. “But I am pregnant, and I don’t know what to do. Mickey, I am scared.”

Michael seemed to make up his mind and finally walked up to her and hugged her. “No need to be, unless Max hasn’t been receptive to the news,” he cooed. “What has he said?”

“Nothing?” she said, voice muffled by his shirt, where her face was pressed. “I have yet to tell him.”

“You can’t be seriously telling me you came here _before_ even telling your husband that he’s going to be a father!” Michael sounded scandalized, but when she looked up, his bright eyes were full of irony – and a touch of joy. 

“I-I am still not sure this can be possible,” Liz was starting to get tired of all the thinking she had been doing. “I mean, we are so different, what if this doesn’t come to term? What if I miscarry? Or worse, what if we can have our baby? What kind of life can they have?”

Michael tightened his grip on her, the crooked fingers of his left hand drawing soothing circles on her back. “Those thoughts occur to every pregnant woman in the world, human or alien,” he assured her. “Don’t you remember when Iz was expecting the twins? She became almost unbearable with fright.”

“She wasn’t carrying a mestizo,” Liz said flatly. It hurt her to refer to her baby like that, but she didn’t want to become too attached, just in case.

Michael snickered. “Lizzie, have you had a look at Noah? The guy’s not as white as you may think he is. The twins are mestizos as well.”

“You know what I mean!”

“And I’m actively choosing to ignore your nonsense. All you have to do is talk to Max, tell him. He’ll be ecstatic, you know. And you’re a biomedical engineer, you can possibly find a way for your pregnancy to turn out well and have a wonderful baby I am going to spoil, just as much as I do Maxie and Mick.”

Liz sniffed loudly. She knew Michael was right – when had he ever been wrong – and she knew she had to talk to her husband. But Max was busy with the security operation of the UFO crash anniversary, and she had spent her nights alone in a bed too big for herself, lost in her thoughts and wondering if she was going to be a good mom – if she’d ever become a mom after all, whether her baby would be safe and sound.

“I’ll talk to him, he’s just been busy and I-I can’t make him hopeful just in case this doesn’t turn out well,” she offered.

“Well, then, I suggest you go talk to Isobel,” Michael smiled. “I still think you should tell Max straight away, but if it’s nagging at you, you should talk to her. She knows what you’re going through, if only for the alien side of the pregnancy.”

Liz nodded briefly, whether to reassure herself or Michael, she didn’t know. With a last hug goodbye and a kiss to his cheek, she left Michael to his cars and drove to Isobel’s. She wasn’t sure what she was going to say, and she knew she had to choose her words carefully – the bond Isobel and Max shared was unbreakable and strong, and Liz didn’t want her husband to find out she had been hiding this news from him through his shared link with his twin sister.

She was aware that she was making a poor choice, not telling Max. She wasn’t sure why she couldn’t muster up the courage to talk to him, and she wasn’t about to start wondering about it, not when Maxie and Mick had already spotted the SUV and were quickly running towards her. A soft smile crept its way onto her face – she had always had a soft spot for her nephews.

“Auntie Liz!” both kids cried out, grabby hands and wide eyes, Maxie’s blond curls a crown against the sinking sun, Mick’s olive skin just glossed with a shade of pink from having been playing in the light.

She squatted by their side, pulling them into a three way hug. “My boys!” She squished them, smooching kisses on their cheeks. “Is mom home?”

“I am,” Isobel’s voice carried from the inside through the front door. When Liz looked up, she saw her sister-in-law leaning against the frame, a thoughtful look upon her face. “You okay? You look upset about something.”

“Can we talk inside?”

“Of course,” Isobel nodded for her to walk into the house. The kids remained outside, allowed to play until dusk these long summer days. “You _do_ look distressed,” Isobel continued once the door was left ajar and they were away from the children’s prying ears. “What’s going on?”

Liz had grown very nervous by the time she had taken that last step into Isobel’s house. She looked around her, trying to see if she could spot Noah. 

“He’s working,” Isobel told her. “You’re worrying me, Liz. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong, not really,” Liz once again starting fidgeting with the hem of her shirt, and when Isobel placed a hand over hers, Liz took her fingers to the zip in her purse. “It’s just. I don’t know what to do.”

“Why don't you sit for a while and tell me what’s going on?” Isobel suggested, motioning for her to approach the couch and get comfortable. “Now,” she continued once they both were seated and Liz wouldn’t stop picking at the zip. “I’d be thrilled to know what has got you so worked up. It can’t be anything bad happening to either Max of Michael, I would have sensed it.”

Liz didn't know how to broach the subject to Isobel, so she just started at her hands for a while before saying awkwardly, “How did you manage?”

“How did I manage what exactly?” Isobel reached out and touched the inside of Liz’s wrist. “You’re not making any sense, and _that_ is frightening.”

“I don't-I don't think I can say it again,” Liz confessed, voice barely a thread. 

“I could see it,” her sister-in-law retaliated. “If you want me to, that's it.”

After everything they had been through – the lies about Rosa’s death, the trepidation about discovering Noah’s true nature, the alien hunting where they were both hunters and preys – Liz and Isobel had reached a point where they trusted each other, but it had come after years of dancing around each other and the big fall out of Noah’s almost dying on them. Nowadays, although she was not keen on getting her mind entered, Liz was more or less comfortable with sharing with her sister-in-law some of her thoughts. It came in on handy where they wanted to have secret conversations without the guys knowing.

“Yeah,” she finally said, shivering. “I want you to. I thought, when Michael suggested me to come here, that it’d be easier, but now I just can’t.”

“Elizabeth Ortecho,” Isobel said in a mocking tone, “have you gone to Michael first with this tribulation instead of coming here? I am hurt.” Instead of laughing, though, Isobel scooted closer and focused on Liz. “I promise I won’t pry about anything you don’t want me to know.”

Liz focused on her feelings about her pregnancy and tried to project her fears towards Isobel, who after only a few seconds gasped in surprise and what can only be described as _delight_. And then her face crumpled as Liz unleashed all her worries. Isobel pushed forcibly away and took a moment staring at her hands where they were pressing against the leather of the couch before speaking. 

“Woah,” was the first thing that came out. “Congratulations! I feel that is the first thing I should say, but I just. You _are_ intense, Liz.”

“So I’m told,” she replied wearily.

“I understand you,” Isobel continued. “I was terrified myself, and Noah’s an alien as well, so I won’t pretend to know what you’re going through with all those thoughts running wild in your mind, but I am telling you. Those? Are not good for the baby. All your insecurities, everything you’re afraid of – that will only put your baby at risk, half alien or completely human.” Isobel gazed down at her with soft eyes, oletting one of her hands hover just inches over Liz’s stomach. “Can I?”

Liz simply nodded. Isobel caressed her belly through her shirt and muttered, “You’re going to be okay, baby. Auntie Iz will make sure everything turns out well for you and mommy, but you have to help me, huh?” Then she looked up once again at Liz. “You have to tell Max. I know you don’t want to keep his hopes up in case this doesn’t-anyway. He needs to know, and even if it doesn’t turn out right – which I am pretty sure won’t happen, trust me – you’ll need him. He is going to be a _dad_ , I cannot believe it.”

Liz remained on Isobel’s couch for what seemed like long hours before making up her mind. “You’re right, you know,” she whispered. “I have to be brave and tell Max. We’ll see from there.”

“That’s my girl,” Isobel encouraged her. “Now, wanna stay for dinner? I’ve made my mom’s casserole.”

“Thanks, but no. I have to go home and be ready, Max will be back tonight after three nights out in Border Hill attending that nonsensical meetings about the anniversary, and I want to be there when he gets back home.”

But when Liz approached their house, in the outskirts of Roswell, there was a dim light coming through the half closed blinders, and Max's SUV was parked by the entrance. She pulled up next to it and shakily exited her car. Her hands were sweating by the time she reached the front door, closed but not locked, as if Max had been waiting for her to show up. 

“Liz?” he greeted her as she set foot inside. His voice was rough and unsteady. She wondered briefly whether he’d have a bad day as well. “I’m in the bedroom.”

She followed his voice only to find him sitting on the edge of their king-sized bed, clutching what looks suspiciously like – she had left the house in a hurry earlier in the day and she hadn’t even thought of tidying it up, much less of throwing all those pregnancy tests to the dustbin, so now she had a really confused husband and some news she didn’t know yet how to deliver.

Once again, Max beat her to it. “I think I might have spoiled a surprise here,” he began tentatively. “By having come home earlier, I mean. I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t have left dozens of _these_ around as a way to tell me we’re going to have a baby.”

“You’re right,” she retaliated. “This is not how I was planning to tell you, because I have been trouble with that specific part. Telling you,” she clarified at Max’s confused expression. “I didn’t know how to. I was, _am_ , afraid of all this, Max. I don’t know if I could survive if this, if our _baby_ , if this just, it doesn’t end up well.”

She hadn’t realized she was crying until Max got up from the bed and rushed to her side, wiping away the stray tears with a hot thumb. She sagged against him, and he was there ready to catch her. And for that, Liz would forever be grateful – for the way he always knew how to comfort her, for his patience in learning everything about her and help her when she was having trouble believing in herself – for the endless love he showered her with.

In that moment she knew they could do anything together – even raise a child who would be half human, half alien.

“I was scared, but I am not anymore.”

“You shouldn’t be,” he reassured her. “It’s going to be a trip, but I’m in for the ride. So,” he continued with a smirk after he landed a kiss on top of her hair,”I guess I’ll have to tell Iz and beware of her wrath when you don’t let her have her way with the baby shower and everything she might want to plan, right? And maybe convince Michael to drop his façade of a tough cowboy and just be nice to his new niece, because I’m positive we’re having a baby.”

“Uhm, about that,” Liz bit her lower lip in an attempt to conceal her giddiness and part of her guilt, “I have already told them?”

“What? You told my siblings before telling me?”

“I kinda did. Scared, remember?” She pulled him closer. “But I’m not anymore, and that’s not because some silly advice Michael and Isobel gave me. It’s all because of you, Max.”

He seemed to ponder on that thought for a while, holding her closer and swaying a bit, until he broke apart and exclaimed, “I’m going to be a father for real. I’m going to be a _father_!”

They dissolved in a fit of giggles, both high on happiness and love, trepidation about the future ahead already making their hearts beat faster than ever. But they were together, and that was the only thing that mattered.

**Author's Note:**

> I am now taking requests and prompts at [my tumblr](https://lire-casander.tumblr.com). Please feel free to come around and say hi, and ramble a bit with me about this show that's taken up my life.


End file.
